Days with the Dorans

Jeff and I were sitting in our family room sipping some wine while listening to the laughter of our children coming from our basement. We were having a moment- watching Sean lay on the dogs, hearing the laughter, looking at each other and counting our blessings. Of which, we have many. Tomorrow is my parents' anniversary and so I was telling Jeff the story of how my parents met (as I remember them telling it) and he was telling me a bit about his folks. He couldn't recall the story of how they met, which has me eager to talk with his mom... I am a sucker for family history which is why I am recording mine (as it happens) here (for my children). And then Jeff said he thought about writing things down for our children (he nixed the idea of a blog even though I told him he could make it private... turn it into a cool 'advice from dad' book... Hey- I planted a seed anyway). And so I thought I would write the story of how Jeff and I came to know each other and fall in lov...

Thirteen years ago around this time, I was spending hours setting up my first grade classroom. I was fresh out of college, knew "everything" and had the energy of a young twenty-two-year-old! Thirteen years later, I am spending hours setting up my first grade classroom, brushing up on some of my favorite 'teacher reads', admit that each year I learn perhaps more than my students and have all the energy of a thirty-four-year-old with four kids at home, a husband and two humane society specials... (sigh) It blows my mind that the first graders pictured are beginning a new chapter in their lives, perhaps heading off to college and naive to how fast life is going to suddenly fly by. I am still teaching in the same building but it has certainly changed... we now have carpeting, computers, phones in our room, and AIR-CONDITIONING! I remember that on some days it would get so hot, the PTA would buy Popsicles and we would sit in silence sucking away on the sweet, refreshin...

I started blogging as a fun way to share what my family was doing with far-away friends. Little did I know that it would become so much more. By writing down my thoughts, I feel like I have made my memories somewhat concrete. This is a good thing because I have a HORRIBLE memory and find that things that I DO remember have come mostly from old pictures, diaries and letters that I have replayed in my mind. One of the wonderful blogs out there does something called "Wednesday Walks"- it's really just a set aside day to write something from your memory. I love this idea especially since this blog has taken the place of my diaries and scrapbooks and is now mostly meant as a keepsake for my children, grandchildren and perhaps more- long after I leave this earth. If you have popped over to my "Pause" blog you may have found that I love to write, and that all started with this man- my Grandpa Jonasen . We were pen pals for years and while it may seem odd for a young ...